Staff Writer
Police feared the next victim in a string of three increasingly violent sexual assaults would not survive her attack.
Special
Charles James was arrested early Friday on Morgan Road.
Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff
Police believe this Chevrolet pickup at the Augusta-Richmond County evidence processing unit was involved in a rape case.
But their sense of urgency turned to relief early Friday with the arrest of Charles A. "Tony" James, who had been released from electronic monitoring by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on May 19 hours before the first attack.
"I think there was a lot of us here who thought the next victim would likely be a homicide victim," said sheriff's Lt. Scott Peebles, a violent crimes investigator. He said the brief time between Mr. James' release and the first assault, and the escalating attacks, "only confirmed for us the sense of urgency we needed to have in this case."
Mr. James, 32, of the 2300 block of Cougar Drive in Hephzibah, is charged with aggravated battery, kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated sodomy in the June 13 attack in which a woman was sodomized, slashed with a razor and left in a pool of blood in a parking lot off Mike Padgett Highway.
Mr. James is also suspected in two other assaults in Augusta's Harrisburg community, Lt. Peebles said. Both of those cases have been turned over to the district attorney's office for their consideration.
Those attacks took place May 19 and 21. In all three attacks, a woman said she had been walking late at night when a man in a truck offered a ride. The victims were then attacked, and the last two were raped.
Lt. Peebles said there was substantial blood evidence found in Mr. James' truck, but he wouldn't elaborate or comment on any other evidence investigators have obtained.
Scheree Lipscomb, a spokeswoman for Pardons and Paroles, said there has been no indication Mr. James was straying from the conditions of his parole. He completed job-readiness classes, worked as a painter, passed drug screenings and met regularly with his parole officer.
He was also involved in a class to change his behavior and decision-making, she said.
Mr. James was released from prison in February. He was sentenced in a purse-snatching case to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years' probation to run concurrently with an earlier 10-year sentence for a 1994 Richmond County robbery. Lt. Peebles said he doesn't appear to have a history of sexual violence.
Deputies arrested Mr. James as he was driving on Morgan Road at about 12:30 a.m. Friday. Deputy Scott Herring spotted a truck matching the description of the Chevrolet S-10 pickup victims had described.
Police said Mr. James matched victims' descriptions of a white man, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 160 to 200 pounds, with light brown or blond crew-cut hair.
Lt. Peebles is asking anyone with information on Mr. James or the assaults to contact the sheriff's office at (706) 821-1080. The sheriff's office also has a tip line at (866) 939-5050.
Staff writer Sandy Hodson contributed to this story.
The Chronicle broke this story, posting it on its Web site at 4:06 a.m. Friday.
Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.
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